Chapter 14

Upon reaching the next area after another puzzle that involved the steam plates, our group then reached an area that was also extremely dark, but I had a feeling this one was a bit different. Why? Because I could hear a voice in the distance that sounded a bit robotic.

"Lights. Camera! Action!" said the voice, it sounding robotic... but also very masculine. I then gasped as the lights came on around me and my group and we saw there was a camera flying in the air aimed at my face. And who was hovering out of reach? A square robot with electronic parts on its face, noodle arms, and having his own jet features. "Greetings beauties and gentlebeauties! I am your host, Mettaton, and I'm reporting to you live on floor two of Hot Land with a stunning report!" the robot said, me smiling at this Mettaton. He was full of himself, even though his body looked like a square. "Here, it seems, we have some newcomers to Hot Land and one of them is making quite the name for himself! All the buzz on Undernet is of this human, here. Do tell us, what is your name?" Mettaton asked as he then pushed the microphone in my face and I simply pushed it away from touching my face so I could give my answer.

"Crow Burr. Species, human. Goal, save my brothers and sisters held captive by Asgore and try to free the Underground at the same time," I said.

"He is just as noble as his fan club suggests, folks! And it appears that your popularity is now second only to my own, mister Burr! Do tell, how are you going to get past the barrier and what plan do you have in place to free all of us trapped down here?" Mettaton asked.

"When I get to the barrier, I'm going to tell Asgore of my plan. It involves my friend Norma using her and Carly's combined soul power to cross over to the human world above, gather 6 different souls from deceased humans, and use them and Carly's soul to demolish the barrier in one go. But the only problem I fear is what may happen if she were to go alone, so I'm hoping to find at least one kind monster in the Underground that'd be willing to merge their soul with my own so I can go with her as a protector," I said with a smile.

"Really? You need to merge with a monster's soul in order to go to the surface? That would be extremely difficult, you know?" Mettaton asked.

"I know, but that's one of the reasons why I'm trying my hardest to be nice and courteous to the monsters in the Underground. So that just one would come up to me and offer, because I sure as heck don't want to force anyone to do it," I said with a smile, leaving out the swear word in case children were watching.

"What generosity! What humbleness!... What is happening to the ratings?!" Mettaton asked in shock as I saw a ratings bar appear on his face and I saw that mine were only a few points away from eclipsing his. "Well, it appears I finally have some ratings competition here, folks! Well, human, when we get the chance, let us have ourselves a fun little sparring match for all the kiddies watching at home! They're sure to love every second of it!" Mettaton smiled as he then snapped his finger and the camera turned off. "Aand cut! Great show, Crow, great show! Just going to let you know, however, I am not too fond of being beaten in the ratings game. I'll leave you be for now, but if the ratings show that you have eclipsed my own... I'll take your soul for myself," Mettaton said with seriousness before he then boosted away in a snap.

"Looks like Mettaton is having fun at least," Norma smiled.

"Didn't you hear what he said? He said he'd kill Crow if his ratings eclipse Mettaton's! And I have a feeling that may happen sooner than later, since your phone is currently getting texts," Mew Mew said, me then looking at my phone and seeing I got some texts from some other monsters. I answered the first and saw that it was from Dogaressa.

"Hi, Crow... this is Dogaressa. You know, the girl dog you petted? When she thought you were a weird puppy?... Well... I didn't know that you were human at the time... but now, I don't care about that... you've reunited all of us Royal Guard Dogs with our lost loved ones... it's going to be a bit hectic during our family reunions now, but now that we know dogs can pet dogs, it's sure to be even more fun than usual. Hugs and belly rubs, Dogaressa," it read as I then saw that the other texts were from the other Royal Guard Dogs and there was one in particular from Snowy the Snowdrake.

"Hey, Crow! It's me, Snowy! I guess that me going to tell the town of your plan was the ice breaker you needed, huh? Haha!... Ahem... well, I wanted to thank you sincerely. Because of you, I'm finally able to joke with my momma again! I've told her tons of jokes that I came up with since meeting you and she's smiled and laughed at all of them. She's even starting to get more active since we've been reunited. I called my pops and told him that, when his next comedy routine is done in Hot Land, he needs to come to Snowdin to meet with momma. Oh, and if you see Mettaton, tell him that people are starting to root for you more than him in Snowdin Town. Go knock 'em dead... with comedy! Snowy the Snowdrake," the text read, me smirking at it as did Carly and Norma when I showed them my thoughts.

"Well, that's every single one of them reunited with their families, now. Undyne certainly did her job in the end," Chara smiled. But I remembered Memoryhead and soon, I got one more text from Bonnie the shopkeeper.

"Hiya, Crow. Remember me, Bonnie? You laughed at my name when I told you it? Hehe, well, I just got the greatest and strangest news ever. Apparently, my eight siblings that went to Alphys to have their souls live on after death? Well, they're back, but as a giant mess of heads that float and can only talk through my electronics. It's extremely odd... but from what they and Undyne said, if it weren't for you, Alphys would have never had the courage to come out with the truth and reunite all of us. So... I wanted to give you a message, but I'd also like you to call and talk to Alphys as well. Tell her that all of us are grateful and that we understand why she couldn't tell us for so long. And tell her that Undyne... well, Undyne wants to go on a date with her. Thank you, for everything, from Bonnie and the Bunnieheads," the text said, me smiling at that.

"Correction, now everyone is with their families again," I smiled, Chara smirking at that.

"How could I forget the first of them we encountered? By far the creepiest looking... but also one of the saddest," Chara frowned.

"Yeah... this is definitely one of the biggest adventures I've had so far. I don't think I've ventured this far from my house before," Norma smirked.

"Don't worry, I think we're almost..." I was about to say before we came across someone that looked like was one of our destinations. Why? She was a literal spider girl with six arms, five eyes, blue skin, black pigtails on her head, and wearing a very cute dress that looked perfect for a cup of tea time.

"Ahuhuhu, why hello there, sweetie! Would you like to donate for our cause? All proceeds go to helping out spiders," the girl said, me then asking the question.

"You wouldn't happen to be Miss Muffet, would you?" I smiled, her gasping at that.

"You know my name?... Wait... your shirt... you were the one that flower told me about!" Muffet said, me frowning at her and shaking my head.

"Okay, that stupid flower is really getting on my nerves," Mew Mew frowned.

"Agreed. First he tries to trick someone into poisoning us, then he tries to make you think we killed your cousin, then he tricks us and Alphys to her real lab to try and get us killed by the Amalgamates, and now he's trying to trick Miss Muffet into thinking we're horrible people," I frowned, Muffet looking at me in utter confusion at that.

"What do you mean? You mean he's been on your hit list all this time and yet you haven't been trampled yet? Like how he said you trample spiders without remorse?" Muffet growled at me.

"If I trample spiders, why would I bring these little guys here all the way from the Ruins?" I smiled as I opened my bag and let the spiders out onto Muffet's desk, her gasping and tears welling up in all five of her eyes.

"Momma Muffet! We're back!" some of the spiders cheered as Muffet smiled and blubbered wildly at me.

"You... You saved my little darlings from the Ruins... how can I ever repay your kindness, mister human?" Muffet asked with a smile.

"So you know, my name's Crow. Maybe you've heard of me on Undernet?" I smiled, Muffet gasping at that.

"Oh! Yeah, Crow Burr! I heard of you from that Papyrus guy. You plan on going past the barrier, but you need a... monster's soul to do it, right?" she asked, me sighing and nodding at that.

"Yeah... and we were kinda hoping that you'd give him your soul, Miss Muffet..." the spiders I had said, her sighing and smiling at me sadly.

"You saved my little beauties from death by frigid air, so I feel obligated to repay the favor... okay, I'll do it..." Muffet said as she stepped out from behind the counter carefully, as there were a few spiders on the ground nearby. Here's what you'll need to do. Place you hand on my chest and focus on merging my soul with your own, okay?" Muffet asked, me nodding at that and me doing it carefully, as she was around the age of being a teenager, developing chest and all. I then focused trying to find Muffet's soul and take it into my own body. I then gasped when I felt Muffet's body start to completely absorb into my own and her soul then slammed itself into my chest, me gasping as I fell to the ground and I felt something start to happen. I felt my body start to undergo some strange tingling sensation and I felt something happening with my butt.

What was happening? Oh, nothing much. Just that I got violet skin on my body and that the area where my tail bone resided now had a hole for spitting spider silk!

"Whoa... so that's what happens when a human absorbs a monster soul... they gain traits and physical changes based on who they absorbed... You okay, Crow?" Norma asked, me smiling as I then felt something inside of me. It was Muffet speaking to me.

"Don't just stand there like a lump of mud, Crow. Tell them I'm okay and part of you completely," Muffet giggled at me. I then relayed the message and they smiled at me happily.

"This is great! We finally have everything we need to save your siblings and destroy the barrier!" Mew Mew purred happily.

"Yes, we are. Now all that's left is to reach Asgore," I smiled as I then looked at all the spiders and they smiled at me. "Now that you're back, you should probably keep making and selling those treats, little spiders. Muffet's orders, not mine," I smiled, since that was exactly what Muffet was thinking.

"You bet!" the one spider smirked as they then scurried to the different webs and began to make more pastries, me smiling at them as we then moved to the east and to another elevator, us going up this one and seeing that it would lead directly to the top floor on the right side, which, according to Muffet, was the closest one to the capital.

"Let's go meet up with Sans," I smiled.